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Polio, BCG infra to power vaccine plan

India plans to use the expansive network of its 42-year-old universal immunisation programme to manage the logistics of administering Covid vaccines next year.

Officials involved in the planning process said on condition of anonymity that the existing infrastructure and human resources will be sufficient to vaccinate the first 30 million Indians, primarily health care workers and first responders, when the country starts vaccinating people early next year.

“Out of the 2.39 lakh-strong force of vaccinators of the existing immunisation programme, at least 1.5 lakh workers will be used for administering Covid vaccines to the first two priority groups tentatively from January to March 2021,” said one of the officials, a top government official.

“The existing 29,000 cold storage facilities should be enough to store and distribute 60 million doses required for the priority groups during this period,” he added.

The Union well being ministry has additionally written to all states and Union territories to establish individuals who could be utilised for the mass Covid-19 vaccination drive.

“As you might be conscious, authorities of India has initiated preparations for introduction of Covid-19 vaccine, upon its availability. As a part of the preparations, one of many actions is creation of database of well being care staff (HCWs) who will probably be prioritised for Covid-19 vaccine… It’s reiterated that the potential vaccinators amongst the HCWs have to be recognized for assist through the Covid-19 vaccination drive,” mentioned the letter despatchedon November 23by Vandana Gurnani, extra secretary, ministry of well being.

’20 years ago, today… this happened’: Priyanka Chopra relives her Miss World win


Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas took to her Instagram to share her glorious memories of being crowned as Miss World 20 years ago.

Priyanka was crowned the title on 30th November 2000 on November at the Millennium Dome in London, United Kingdom.

As the event completed 20 years, the actress reminisced the winning moments and shared a throwback video which showed her overjoyed after winning the title.

“20 years ago, today… this happened!! #MissWorld2000,” she wrote while she shared the video. It was a screencast on the exact moment when she was crowned Miss World.


Her team also celebrated her achievement by sharing a full video of the event on their social media account and wrote, “On this day, 20 years ago, an 18-year-old @priyankachopra from Bareilly with big dreams in her eyes mesmerized the globe with her beauty and confidence and won the Miss World Title… #20in2020 #MissWorld #20YearsOfPriyankaChopra.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CINOoJIgJly/?utm_source=ig_embed

Earlier, Priyanka’s mother Dr. Madhu Chopra had described the moment when Priyanka was being crowned the title. She said, “I had tears streaming down my eyes what’s going to happen. I just need to hug her. And when I hugged her I spoke the stupidest thing — Instead of telling her that I was so glad, so happy that you’re Miss World. I said, ‘Babe, now what will happen to your studies’.”


Priyanka Chopra had shared her memory of being presented with Miss India title earlier this year. She had shared a video on social media from her Miss India winning moment in which she said how she was never meant to win. She revealed that she had a train booked as she was to go back home and give her board exams. She was only 16 at that time.

Priyanka, who transitioned to Hollywood after proving her mettle in Bollywood, has emerged as the biggest star of the country. The Baywatch actor has been unstoppable and is still one of the most powerful monarch of the film industry.

Centre to hold talks with farmers on new farm laws today

The Central government on Monday offered to hold talks with protesting farmers at Delhi border as they continued to express their anger over contentional farm laws for fifth straight day.

Narendra Singh Tomar, Agriculture Minister, on Monday sent out an invitation to farmer unions to conduct talks on Tuesday. Earlier, the talk was scheduled for December 3 but amid the raging protests, the Centre has now preponed it to December 1.

“Keeping in view the cold and COVID-19, we have invited leaders of farmer unions for discussion much before the scheduled December 3 meeting,” he had told PTI on Monday.

Reportedly, farmers have accepted Centre’s invitation and will hold talks with the Centre this afternoon.

“We will hold a meeting today to take a decision whether we should accept the Centre’s offer or not,” Baljeet Singh Mahal, a farmer leader, was quoted by PTI.

The meeting will be held at 3 pm at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi, the minister said while adding that the leaders who were present during previous meeting that held on November 13 have also been invited.

Meanwhile, ahead of the meeting with the farmer leaders, several Union Cabinet Ministers are meeting at the BJP President JP Nadda’s residence on Tuesday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar were among others who have arrived at Nadda’s residence before heading to Vigyan Bhawan.

Meanwhile, over 500 farmer from Bundelkhand have joined the ongoing protest at Delhi border to lend in support against the new agriculture laws.

Meanwhile, PM Modi on Monday said that it is opposition’s trick to use farmers to oppose historic agriculture reforms by misleading them.

“The new agricultural laws have been brought in for benefit of the farmers. We will see and experience benefits of these new laws in the coming days. Efforts are on to double farmers’ incomes, new options being offered to them to sell their crops,” said Modi.

World AIDS Day 2020

World AIDS Day takes place on December 1, each year. It’s an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness. 

This year the theme of world AIDS day is “Global solidarity, shared responsibility” to show support for those living with and affected by HIV, and remember those who lost their lives to AIDS.

Since it was proclaimed as a pandemic in 1981, HIV/AIDS has claimed more than 33 million individuals and contaminated around 0.7 per cent of the total populace.

There are over two million people living with HIV in India, making it the third-largest country with the HIV epidemic in the world.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic disease that is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The immune system of the person who is suffering from the disease gets damaged and also reduces the disease fighting ability of the body.

There are various reasons through which a person can be affected by AIDS. Let’s take a look at some of them:

1. It can be contracted through body fluids like blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, vaginal and rectal fluids, and breast milk of an infected woman.

2. Unprotected sex with a person who is infected can also pass on the deadly disease to another person.

3. Sharing injection needles, razor blades, knives among other things with an infected person can also be a reason for contraction of the disease.

World AIDS Day was first conceived in 1987 in the month of August by Thomas Netter and James W. Bann. Thomas Netter and James W. Bann were both public information officers for the AIDS Global Program of the World Health Organization Geneva, Switzerland. He conveyed his idea of ​​AIDS Day to Dr. Johnathan Mann (Director of AIDS Global Program), who approved the idea and celebrated it on December 1 in 1988 as World AIDS Day. They decided to dedicate this date every year as World AIDS Day.

Covid-19 update: India reports 31,118 infections, 482 deaths

With 31,118 fresh infection, India’s overall covid-19 tally rose to 94,62,810 on Tuesday. A total of 482 new deaths in last 24-hour took India’s death toll to 1,37,621.

As of now, the total active cases in the country stand at 4,35,603 which comprises 4.7 per cent of the total case load. A total number of 88,89,585 have recovered from the virus so far with 41,985 more people recuperating in the last 24-hour.

Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have reported the highest number of cases in the country.

Meanwhile, the recovery rate has further improved to 93.81 per cent.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Singh on Monday said that up to 30 per cent of India’s poulation will get vaccine by August 2021 as per the central government’s plans.

“In the first 3-4 months of next year, there is a possibility we will be able to provide vaccine to the people of the country. By July-August, we have a plan to provide vaccines to around 25-30 crore people and we are preparing accordingly,” Mr Vardhan told reporters.

Here’re some more updates related to the covid-19 pandemic:

*India has reported 12.8 lakh new covid-19 cases in November which is its lowest count in four month as the country have managed to keep the daily count below 50,000

*Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic has tested positive for COVID-19.

“In accordance with recommendations of epidemiologists, Andrej Plenkovic was re-tested for the presence of COVID-19, the result was positive,” the Croatian cabinet said on Twitter.

*A US analyst on Monday said that China has provided North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family with covid-19 vaccine.

*America has imposed new covid-19 restrictions after Thanksgiving to curb the virus.

*U.S. President-elect Joe Biden spoke with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, over the need of a strengthened partnership to fight off the covid-19 pandemic.

* China reported 12 new Covid-19 cases on Nov. 30, down from 18 cases a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said.

*Moderna has filed for emergency authorisation from US FDA after it reported Monday that its vaccine is 94.1 effective at preventing covid-19 infection.

Meanwhile, the overall number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed the 63 million mark, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.46 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Covid-19 vaccine update: Moderna reports 100 per cent efficacy in severe cases, to seek emergency authorisation

Moderna Inc, the US drug maker, on Monday said that they will apply for US and European emergency use authorization for its covid-19 vaccine following results of a late-stage analysis which proved its vaccine to be more than 94 per cent effective with no adverse event.

Additionally, Moderna also said that their vaccine was 100 per cent successful in preventing severe cases of the infection irrespective of race, age, ethnicity and gender.

The analysis included 196 cases and none of the volunteers who had participated in trials reported any serious safety events.

of the 196 people who had covid-19 infection rampant in their body, 185 received a placebo while 11 received the vaccine. Moderna said that 30 were severe cases– all in the placebo group — who were successfully treated, thus, proving 100 per cent efficacy in preventing severe cases.

 “We believe that we have a vaccine that is very highly efficacious. We now have the data to prove it,” Moderna Chief Medical Officer Tal Zaks said.

“We expect to be playing a major part in turning around this pandemic.”

“As the numbers of cases reported grows, confidence grows that this amazing protection will be maintained in a product that can be rolled out to protect the public,” said Alexander Edwards, associate professor in biomedical technology at Britain’s University of Reading.

Apart from applying for emergency use in US, Moderna said it also aims to seek conditional marketing authorisation in Europe.

Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Agency will likely announce their decision on the vaccine on December 17 after holding a review meeting.

According to the company, they have already manufactured 20 million doses of the vaccine which are ready to pump in the market by the end of 2020.

Moderna is the second candidate to seek emergency use authorisation of its vaccine in the US. Prior to this, Pfizer, who reported 95 per cent efficacy, had also applied for the permission which will be reviewed on December 10.

Prega News appoints Anushka Sharma as brand ambassador

Prega News, the self testing pregnancy kit from Mankind pharma, has roped in Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma as its brand ambassador. She will be responsible for endorsing brand’s new promotional campaigns.

Anushka Sharma is expecting her first child with her cricketer husband Virat Kohli.

The campaign, which has been conceptualised by ADK Fortune, shows the phases of expecting a child with Anushka Sharma, whose delivery is due in January 2021, sharing her personal journey.

The two-month-long ad campaign will be promoted across various media channels including television channels, digital platforms, and outdoors including hoardings and branding at airports.

The ad will be released in various regional languages such as Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Oria, Bengali, Marathi and Asaamese, to reach a mass audience.

Rajeev Juneja, chief executive officer, Mankind Pharma, said, “We are extremely delighted to have Anushka Sharma on board for this association to bring forth the powerful message of the strength of motherhood. Prega News has been the companion for millions of expecting mothers for over a decade now and with Anushka we want to take forward our messaging to expecting mothers pan India.”

“I’m happy to be associated with Prega News which is known for helping women for over a decade now. Prega News has struck a chord with expectant mothers with its tagline ‘Prega News means Good News’. The brand is a preferred choice amongst its customers as it resonates trust and offers accurate results from the comfort of their homes. I look forward to my association with Prega News and to be a part of their growth journey,” said Sharma.

Bigg Boss 14: Pavitra Punia gets evicted

Pavitra Punia, who was regarded as one of the strongest contestants in this season, was eliminated on Sunday at the end of the Weekend ka Vaar episode.

She was sent off with a tearful farewell by Eijaz Khan who hugged her and planted a kiss on cheek as she prepared to exit from house.

Along with Pavitra, Aly Goni, Rubina Dialik, Jasmin Bhasin, Rahul Vadiya and Eijaz Khan were nominated for elimination this week.

Pavitra had kick started her journey on a very high note, thus, leading to the higher expectations from viewers. However, her whirlwind romance with Eijaz Khan did not really work in her favour as she became less participative in the games.

While she openly exercised her feeling for Eijaz, he took some time to reciprocate the feelings.

Before entering Bigg Boss 14, Pavitra had told Indian Express, “You will see the bold me, who is fearless and stands for the truth. I am a strong- headed person, and belive in standing for what is right, even if it means going against my own people. Bold and beautiful — that will be Pavitra for you all. Also, I think through the show, people will get to see my fun side. I love pulling pranks on others, and spreading smiles everywhere I go. I also laugh out a lot, and I hope I can make others laugh too.”

Meanwhile, Bigg Boss has brought yet another twist in the game with Salman Khan announcing that the upcoming week will see many nominations. While announcing Rubina Dilaik as the first finalist, he said that the finale episode is just one week away.

Pavitra Punia entered the entertainment industry with Splitsvilla 3 where she proved her mettle with her bold and fearless personality. She later went on to work in shows such as Love U Zindagi, Yeh Hai Mohabbatein and Naagin 3 among others.

Serum Institute files Rs 100 crore defamation case against man who claimed he fell ill after undergoing trials

Serum Institute of India has filed a defamation suit worth Rs 100 crore against the volunteer who participated in the late stage vaccine trials and claimed that he fell ill after receiving the dose.

Claiming that he suffered serious adverse event after being administered the under-trial vaccine, the Chennai based volunteer had earlier demanded Rs 5 crore from the drug manufacturer as compensation.

Serum Institute had slammed the allegations calling them “malicious” and “misconceived” adding that the volunteer was informed that the complications he suffered were not related to vaccine in any way.

“The allegations in the notice are malicious and misconceived. While the Serum Institute of India is sympathetic with the volunteer’s medical condition, there is absolutely no correlation with the vaccine trial and the medical condition of the volunteer. The volunteer is falsely laying the blame for his medial problems on the COVID vaccine trial,” the statement said

“The claim is malicious because the volunteer was specifically informed by the medical team that the complications he suffered were independent of the vaccine trial he underwent,” the statement added. “The volunteer is falsely laying the blame for his medical problems on the Covid vaccine trial. In spite of specifically being made aware of the same, he still chose to go public and malign the reputation of the company.

Serum Institute has said that it will seek Rs 100 crore from the volunteer for defaming the company and will also defend the malicious claims.

Meanwhile, the Chennai based volunteer in his complain filed on November 21 claimed that he suffered “severe headaches”, “total behavioural change” and “irritation towards light and sound” after undergoing vaccine trials on October 1.

For the uninformed, Serum Institute has collaborated with Britain’s AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University to manufacture their vaccine candidate in India.

Recently, after completing late stage trials of the vaccine, the developer had announced 90 per cent efficacy of their vaccine candidate.

Covid-19 update: India reports fresh 38,772 cases, 443 deaths

 India logged in 38,772 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, taking nation’s total tally over 94.31 lakh. With the new cases, the total tally now stands at 94,31,692. The total fatality toll of the country stands at 1,37,139 with 443 more people dying due to the virus on Sunday. 

The total number of active cases in country stand at 4,46,952 which comprises 4.83 per cent of the overall caseload. 

With 45,333 new discharges in last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries in the country have reached 88,47,600, the latest update released by health ministry said. The recovery rate has further improved to  93. 71 per cent, it added.

A total number of 14,03,79,976 samples have been tested so far. Of these, 8,76,173 COVID-19 samples tested yesterday, said Indian Council of Medical Research.

India continues to have one of the lowest deaths per million population globally (presently 99): Ministry of Health

Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are responsible for 71 per cent number of overall fatalities of the nation, the health ministry added. 

Here’re some other updates related to the covid-19 pandemic:

*BJP MLA from Rajasthan’s Rajsamand Kiran Maheshwari, who had tested positive for the virus, passed on Monday.

*Uttarakhand has reduced number of people allowed to gather in a closed space from 200 to 100 as the state sees high spike of covid-19 infection.

*Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in an event said that India will most likely vaccinate 30 crore of its population by July 2021 while asserting that he is hopeful for a vaccine in January.

*PM Modi in his Mann Kii Baat on Sunday said that any kind of laxity in dealing with covid-19 will lead to dangerous outcomes.

*Tamil Nadu government has permitted all colleges to conduct classes for final year undergraduates from December 7.

*PM Modi will interact with three teams involved in covid-19 vaccine development.

*Elementary schools in Assam will open from January 1.

Meanwhile, the overall number of global covid-19 cases has topped 62.6 million while the deaths have soared high to more than 1.45 million, according to Johns Hopkins university. 

Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti: motivational quotes and wishes for family

One of the most celebrated Sikh gurus and the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev is highly revered by the Sikh community.

His birth anniversary is celebrated as Guru Nanak Jayanti every year. The day starts with an ‘Akhand Path’, where a 48-hour long verse from the holy Guru Granth Sahib is recited across various Gurudwaras.

The literal meaning of the word    Gurupurab is ‘the day of Guru’. According to the Hindu calendar, Puranmashi of Kartik month in 1469 is the birthdate of the guru who is the founder of Sikhism.

This year, the date is falling on November 30 and it is the 551st birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. He was born in the Talwindi region. His birthplace is now called Nankanan Sahib and is located in Pakistan.

Legend has it that Nanak was born at around 1.20 am. Therefore, the evening prayers continue till then, as worshippers sing Gurbani in his praise. It finally comes to an end around 2.00 am.

A day before Gurupurab, a procession called Nagarkirtan is organised. There are devotional singers in the procession who sing hymns. The procession has a palanquin of Guru Granth Sahib and the Sikh flag called Nishan Sahib.

Here are some motivational quotes by Guru Nanak Dev Ji for you to send to your friends and families:

“He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God.”

“Death would not be called bad, O people, if one knew how to truly die.”

“Conquer your mind and conquer the world.”

“The world is a drama staged in a dream.”

Some best wishes for family and loved ones:

May the Almighty shower you with his choicest blessings on the auspicious day of Gurpurab. A very Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti to you and your loved ones.

This Gurpurab here’s wishing you peace, happiness and good health. Stay blessed.

Meri or se aap sabhi ko Gurpurab ki dheron shubh kamnayein.

May you be inspired by the greatness of Guru Nanak Ji, who spread the message of peace and harmony.

Heartiest wishes to you and your family on the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurpurab.

May this Gurpurab bring happiness and joy aplenty to your life.

May Guru Nanak Dev Ji inspire you to achieve all your dreams. May you be showered with eternal peace, good health, wealth, happiness and prosperity.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh. Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti to you and your family.

May the name of Waheguru Ji be enshrined in your life. A very Happy Guru Nanak Dev Ji Jayanti to you.

May, the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, reflect goodness and compassion in you. May there be happiness & prosperity in your life. Here’s wishing you a very Happy Gurpurab.

Satguru Nanak Pargataya Mitti Dhund Jag Channan Hoia, Aap Ji Nu Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji De Purab Dian Lakh-Lakh Vadayian. Happy Gurpurab.

May Guru Nanak Dev Ji inspire you to achieve all your goals, dreams and ambitions.  May his blessings be with you in all your endeavours! Happy Gurpurab.

May happiness and blessings surround you as we join together to remember our beloved Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Happy Gurpurab.

Urmila Matondkar to join Shiv Sena tomorrow, says an aide to Uddhav Thackeray

Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar will be joining Maharashtra’s Ruling Party Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday.

Harshal Pradhan, a party functionary of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, on Sunday said that Ms Matondkar will join the party in an event on Tuesday attended by the chief minister.

Matondkar, who quit Congress last year, had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North constituency on Congress ticket. The actress have been nominated by Shiv Sena to the legislative council from the governor’s quota.

For the uninformed, Matondkar had joined Congress five months before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and left the party in September after losing to MP Gopal Shetty. Even as she lost the election by a huge margin, her activeness and unique promotional strategies gained her mass recognition as a politician.

She had cited “petty party politics” as the reason to quite congress and had written, “I’ve resigned from the Indian National Congress. The first thought of resignation came to me when after my repeated efforts, no action was taken in pursuance of my letter dated 16th May, addressed to then Mumbai Congress President Mr Milind Deora. Thereafter, to my utter dismay, the said letter containing privileged and confidential communication was conveniently leaked to the media, which according to me, was an act of blatant betrayal. Needless to say, no one from the party was apologetic or even concerned towards me for the same despite my repeated protests.”

Apart from Urmila, 11 other people have been nominated by the by the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for their nomination from the governor’s quota.

The governor is yet to make a decision on the list of 12 names.

Urmila was recently in headlines when she criticised Kanagna Ranauat’s ‘Mumbai feels like Pakistan occupied Kashmir’ jibe.

The latter had than made demeaning remarks against the Rangeela actor.

Shane Warne reprimanded Indian bowlers for slow over-rate

Shane Warne reprimanded Indian bowlers for slow bowling against Australia in the first ODI. India completed their 50 overs in the first ODI for four hours and six minutes in which they lost by 66 runs. The match was to end at 10 pm, Australia time but it was delayed by an hour.

“The batsmen were ready at the crease but the bowlers were not present on their bowling mark.” They were just wandering around. Warne described it as absurd. Even Steve Smith admitted after the match that it was the longest 50-over match in all the matches he played.

The Indian cricket team was fined 20 per cent of the match fees for slow over-rate against Australia in the opening ODI of the series in Sydney. International Cricket Council (ICC) Match Referee David Boon imposed this penalty. The ICC said in a statement issued on Saturday, “According to the ICC’s code of conduct for minimum over-speed violation, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fees from each over if they are not able to bowl within the stipulated time. is applied.’

India vs Australia: Proposal at middle of the match

India vs Australia, India your of Australia, India fan proposes in match,

The second ODI between India and Australia was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). During this match played on Sunday, something happened that everyone had a smile on their face.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CILMb3chZwF/?igshid=1nyelfwmkjbq8

In fact, during the match, an Indian fan propped his girlfriend on his knees. The proposal video is going viral on social media.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIK3qicD0NY/?igshid=tv5snrwwanku

A man wearing Team India jersey proposed a girl seen wearing a jersey of Australia cricket team on the field. The girl soon accepted this delusion and then both hugged and kissed each other.

Sydney Cricket Ground witnessed the love of both. After this, the people present in the stadium cheered for the couple.

India vs Australia: Injury scare for David Warner, doubtful for last ODI

Australia’s explosive opener David Warner seems doubtful to play the remaining matches of the limited-overs series against India due to injury to the groin during the second ODI in Sydney on Sunday.

Warner had trouble getting up after diving in the fourth over of the Indian innings, after which he walked out of the Sydney Cricket Ground. This senior player was taken to a nearby hospital for a scan.

The way Warner bounced to stop the ball and the way he was groaning painfully after falling, it seems that he will not be able to play not only in the third and final ODI but also in the three-match T20 series that follows.

Teammates Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell and physio David Beakley helped Warner walk a few steps to reach the Australian dressing room, after which he went straight to the hospital.

After the match, Australian captain Aaron Finch was asked about the condition of this opener, he said that he is not aware of the seriousness of the injury, but he does not expect him to be available.

He said after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series with a 51-run win over India, “I don’t know, I don’t think he will be available, we have to bring someone in his place.”